Graveyard Spiral
by CelestialTomatoMonkey
Summary: Kozmotis Pitchiner, recently returned general, is looking forward to spending his leave with his daughter. Too bad the Zombie Apocalypse kind of ruins those plans. Between killing zombies and picking up hitchhikers, this is one vacation that will be anything but relaxing. Possible yaoi later, at least one established relationship, and a mix of gore and fluff. You have been warned.


_`I'm kinda surprised that nobody came up with this sooner, but oh well. More fun for me. Guys, I've already started getting zombie themed nightmares and I've hardly even started. I'm wondering if that's a good sign or a bad one. It doubtlessly won't be the last time. I think I'll be an insomniac by the end of this. Also, don't expect frequent updates._

_Aster is Bunny_

_Tatiana is Tooth_

_I hope the rest are pretty obvious._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, Guardians of Childhood, or Choice of Zombies._

_**IMPORTANT: **__ Everyone is human, and I'm going to use Kozmotis Pitchiner instead of Pitch Black, because he's a good guy here. I hope you guys enjoy~_

_**GRAVEYARD SPIRAL: **__The downward, corkscrew-motion of a disabled aircraft which is unrecoverably headed for a crash._

_In aviation, a graveyard spiral is a dangerous spiral dive entered into accidentally by a pilot who is not trained or not proficient in instrument flight when flying in instrument meteorological conditions._

_Synonym: Death Spiral_

**Just pretend this is a line, okay.**

Kozmotis Pitchiner sighed as he took a sip of his coffee. As usual, his energetic daughter had woken him up early in the morning. After almost two days of being back home from an assignment, the general was finally letting himself relax. Kozmotis was looking forward to the time he was going to spend with Seraphina. The house was peacefully quiet, save for the young girl's giggles as she watched him. They didn't have a lot of electronics in the house, mostly because Kozmotis couldn't get the stupid things to work for the life of him. They didn't have a television, a computer, or any kind of electric game system. They did their dishes by hand and dried their laundry on lines. Another reason for the lack of such appliances was because Seraphina loved playing outside. She didn't need to get her entertainment from a TV or computer. Some of the few things they did have were a radio and basic electricity, along with a heating and air conditioning system. Other than the radio, the only other source of information they had was the newspaper.

That was all they needed, and the two were perfectly happy with that. It was usually just he and Sera, most of the time when he was home. Kozmotis was generally shy around other people in normal situations. He was awkward and generally didn't like attention. The only time he was really okay with attention was when he was in command or taking control of a serious situation. Not to say he couldn't let loose every now and then, but still…

Kozmotis sighed and looked out into the little yard. He frowned, though when he spotted a couple of people out crouched in the grass. They were all hunched over something, something bloody. He thought he could see a limb or two being ripped away from what was certainly a body. There had been plenty of reports about the living dead, but it couldn't have spread as far east as they were. Not this quickly. But there they were, plain as day. A group of zombies were eating a corpse in his back yard.

Kozmotis set his cup down and carefully herded his daughter to the kitchen. If they could slip out before being noticed, that would be wonderful. "Sera, darling, I need you to go get the emergency bag. You know where it is, don't you, sweetheart?" He said as calmly as possible. There was no reason to make her panic. She looked up at him with big, honey brown eyes and nodded. "But why do we need it?" Kozmotis sighed and placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "We need it because we have to go somewhere. It's very important." With that, he sent her off to get the bag, which had a first aid kit, some water and non-perishable food, and a few weapons with ammo for guns. While she was doing that, Kozmotis went to get a few extra weapons. So much for a nice vacation…

A minute later, Seraphina came back with the messenger bag full of supplies. She passed it up to her father, and he put the strap over his head and one shoulder. "Alright, sweetheart, it's time to go." The two headed out to the general's Prius. He didn't really need such a big car; he only lived with his daughter for heaven's sake, but it had been some odd sort of gift from an old friend of his. Kozmotis slid into the driver's seat and Seraphina took her seat behind his.

As they started off through their neighborhood, Kozmotis tried not to look at the people being dragged out of their houses or who were already being eaten. He could hear his daughter whimper behind him, and he quickly told her not to look. He could only hope that she listened. This was a truly terrifying situation to be in, and Kozmotis made a promise to himself right then that he would protect his daughter and keep her as safe as possible at all times. He wished he could say it would be okay, that they would be alright, but he knew that was a lie. There wasn't a very good chance of getting through this, but hell if he wasn't going to try.

Through the rear view mirror, Kozmotis could see a horde of zombies try to chase after their car. For the walking dead, they were moving pretty quickly. Eventually, the masses thinned out and gave up altogether as they found easier prey. Once they got into town, the infestation only seemed to be worse. There were zombies spilling out of almost every door and more of them were mulling around outside. The faster they got out of town and away from the more populated areas, the better. Within half an hour at least they managed to pass the city limits. Buildings gave way to open land, a few trees here and there, and the roads weren't quite as well maintained.

Hopefully with less people, there would be fewer zombies. It was alright for a few miles, and Kozmotis managed to talk his frightened daughter into a calmer state. This was too much for him to handle, much less a nine year old child. However, after a while longer of driving, Seraphina perked up and pointed. "Daddy, look!" she cried. He followed where she was pointing and saw a pair of zombies, who both appeared to be female, chasing after a boy along the road ahead of them. The boy looked to be at least in his late teens, maybe early twenties at the oldest. What caught his attention the most about the boy was his shock of white hair, which was a stark contrast to his and his daughter's dark hair. It was a stark contrast to most natural colours, actually. Vaguely, he wondered if it was the boy's natural hair colour.

There was a chance that he could save the young man, if he hadn't already been bitten. If he timed things right, Kozmotis could drive alongside the boy and open the door. If the young man had enough sense, he would try to jump in. It seemed risky, but he didn't want to let a life go if he could help it. Kozmotis slowed the car when they came upon the boy and the two zombies. The white haired boy turned to look at the car with wide blue eyes. "Sera, can you do something for me?" This was putting her in a little more danger, but he couldn't reach across to open the door without making the car swerve, and that might make the car hit the boy.

"I need you to open the door on the passenger side. Just pull the latch and give it a little push." Seraphina leaned over, looking just as scared as the boy outside. "Daddy…" She swallowed, and Kozmotis gave her a nod in an attempt to reassure and encourage her. With no small amount of apprehension, the little girl unbuckled her seatbelt and moved forward. She took hold of the door handle, her small hand shaking. "That's it, darling. You're doing so good." Kozmotis said, constantly flicking his worried golden gaze among her, the boy, and the road ahead of them. Seraphina jerked the handle and shoved the door open, quickly scrambling back into her seat. Once the door was open, the boy started to move closer to the open space. "Get in!" Kozmotis yelled to the boy, trying to slow down a little without letting the zombies catch up. "Gimmie a break, I'm trying!" the young man yelled back, giving Kozmotis an exhausted glare.

The first time he tried to get in, the young man tripped and nearly fell. He must have been running for quite a while. Kozmotis could feel his heart in his throat for a moment after the first attempt. The second try, he scrabbled for the door frame and did fall when he lost his grip. Cursing, Kozmotis glanced back through the rear view mirror to gage how far of a distance there was between the car and the zombies. They didn't have long. The white haired boy got up and winced, but he continued to run alongside the car.

In a last ditch effort, the boy jumped sideways and landed half in half out of the car. Kozmotis grabbed the boy's arm, dragging him in the rest of the way, and the boy slammed the door closed behind him. Now that he was safely inside the car, Kozmotis stepped down hard on the gas, leaving the two zombies behind as they sped away down the road.

They drove on in silence for a long time, all three of them trying to settle down, the boy heaving as he tried to catch his breath. Seraphina looked like she could cry at any given moment. It took quite a while for Kozmotis to calm down and get his heartbeat back down to a normal rate. He glanced over at the boy in the passenger seat, who had his eyes closed and his head tilted back against the headrest. "... Thanks…" he said after a moment, one eye now cracked open to look at Kozmotis. "Of course. I couldn't just leave you there." Actually, Kozmotis could have left him there, and could have driven away without the boy and saved himself and his daughter the trouble. But as a general, he felt it was his job to help those that could be helped. Besides that, he couldn't have handled the guilt.

"So, do I get to know the name of my knight in shining armor?" The white haired boy asked as he sat forward, as if trying to get a better look at the other. "Kozmotis," He replied, once again turning his attention to the boy for a few seconds. "Kozmotis Pitchiner." "Huh, odd name. I'm Jackson Frost, but everyone calls me Jack." Jack managed to summon a small grin, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Well, Jack, it's nice to meet you. Not to seem insensitive, but you didn't happen to get bitten, did you?" Kozmotis had to be sure. He couldn't risk the safety of his daughter or himself if this boy was infected. Just to be sure, Jack looked himself over before he answered that no, he had not been bitten.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you end up getting chased all the way out here?" He asked after another pause. "Oh, well my family has a little cabin out here that we were staying at, and my mom, my little sister, and I went out for a little walk. Some guy came up to us and started following us before he attacked my mom. She… ended up biting my sister…" Jack trailed off and looked down, and Kozmotis could only assume that the two zombies that had been chasing Jack were once his mother and sister. Seraphina decided to pipe up after that, still nervous but quickly recovering. "Don't worry, Mr. Jack," She said, scooting forward in her seat and using the back of the driver seat to lean closer. "We can be your family now! Daddy will keep you safe, too." Seraphina smiled at Jack, and Jack turned his head to smile back at her. "Ah, this is my daughter, Seraphina." Jack smiled again. "Cute kid." Kozmotis chuckled quietly to himself and looked ahead at the road. It seemed they had a new addition, and he hoped Jack would stay. He looked like a good kid, and Seraphina had already taken a shine to him.

"Well, Jack, if you do stay with us, then welcome to the family." After that, Seraphina began to chat away to Jack, asking him all kinds of questions as they drove. Jack happily answered every one, even asking a few of his own before Seraphina started asking for stories. It was nice to know Kozmotis had picked up someone who was good with kids.

A few hours passed like that before Jack paused in his story telling to ask a question. "So, where are we going?" Kozmotis hummed, brows furrowing. That was a very good question, and he didn't have a specific answer at the moment. The best he could do was give an idea. "It would probably be a good idea to get to a shelter, if there are any. We can't just drive forever, after all." With that said, he turned on the car radio, waiting for a moment for the static to pass. It seemed that the radio towers had been having some problems. There were probably a few zombie attacks there, too. Eventually, a weak signal came in and a scratchy voice came into focus. "… life-threatening situ… advising all survivors to t…shelter. Safe havens have been formed at the Burgess elementary school and the department store. A riot has broken out at the high school, and it is no longer considered safe. Please head to the elementary school or the department store…" As if on cue, the static flared up on the radio and drowned out the voice.

"I recommend the store. There may be less defenses, but it will have better supplies and possibly even weapons and ammo." Speaking of which, he should probably give Jack a gun to protect himself with. With that plan in mind, Kozmotis drove in the direction of the department store in the next little town over. Burgess, if he had guessed correctly from the radio. It would probably take a while for them to actually find a main road that lead to the town, but he didn't think that was such a bad thing. For now, staying away from populated areas seemed like a good plan.

While they drove, Kozmotis tried to make a little bit of small talk with Jack, who was alternating his attention between the general and the little girl behind them. They exchanged some information of the previous goings on in the world, touched in on the current happenings-though nobody really wanted to think about the zombies. "So, you seem to be pretty calm about all of this. You didn't even freak out when you helped me." Jack said as he leaned back a little in his seat. "Did you have some kind of training for that or something?" At that question, Kozmotis sighed and gave Jack a shallow nod. "I'm in the military; home on leave for a few weeks." He'd had plenty of drills pounded into his head, about learning to keep a level head in dangerous situations. Out of the corner of his eye, Kozmotis thought he saw Jack perk up a little.

"Really? What branch and rank?" It seemed like he had found a point of interest in the young man, or at least something that was familiar to the other. "I'm a general of the Army. I suppose I would have been called back to fight what's going on if there had been more warning. As it is, it seems like a very disorganized situation." It got quiet after that, and Kozmotis could just barely make out the sound of humming. Seraphina must have either gotten bored or nervous, and honestly, he couldn't blame the poor girl. She fell asleep a few hours later, though.

It was starting to get dark out when the three came upon an isolated little house on a hill. Kozmotis frowned, slowing the car down to get a better look. House really wasn't the right word for the building; it was more like a cottage. While it might be a good idea to stop for the night and rest, any people that might still be there could have been bitten or eaten. He would need a second opinion on this. He didn't want to ask his daughter, since that would mean waking her up, so it seemed like Jack would have to be the one to help him. A small nudge to the arm got the teen's attention quickly enough. "Jack, do you see that house there? The one on the little hill?" Kozmotis pointed it out and got a nod from Jack. "It has the potential to be a safe place to spend the night. If the owners haven't become zombies, that is. Do you want to look around to see if we can stop here?" He could practically see the gears turning in Jack's head as he eyed the cottage. "Well, it might be good to get off the road at night. But I don't think we should go up there without some sort of protection."

The young man's eyes went wide when Kozmotis grabbed a gun from the glove box. He handed that one to Jack, taking the second one that he had strapped to his hip for himself. "I hope you know how to use that." "Well… I have the basics down, but if we have time later, a lesson or two couldn't hurt." He gave Kozmotis a nervous smile. Lessons on weaponry would definitely be in order. "Alright Jack, I want you to stay here with Seraphina. Yell for me first if something happens; shoot if you have to. I'll go look around the house to make sure it's safe." Kozmotis opened the door to his side of the car and slid out of the seat, keeping his gun at the ready.

Slowly, carefully, the general moved toward the cottage, making sure to look all around him in case he was attacked. The area around the place looked well-kept and undisturbed, a few beds of brightly colored flowers hugging the sturdy looking walls. There were no zombies outside at least. Next, Kozmotis went back to the front door and knocked harshly. He stepped back and waited, gun aimed at the door, just in case. The door slammed open and Kozmotis came face to face with the end of a rifle, which surprised Kozmotis more than he wanted to admit. What surprised him even more was the man holding the rifle. There was Edgar Aster Bunnymund, the colonel that had recently worked under his command. The two of them stood there for a moment, eyes locked and guns pointed at each other, ready to fire at one wrong move. Oddly enough – or maybe not, it was Aster's wife that put an end to their little standoff. "Aster? Who's at the door?" Behind the well-muscled, tall man came a petite woman, her large violet eyes giving off obvious concern. Aster lowered his rifle, still glaring sharply at his superior officer.

"It's just Pitchiner." Aster grumbled, turning to Tatiana and running a calloused hand through his blue-grey hair. "Oh, don't get too excited, Bunnymund. Someone might think you're happy to see me." Kozmotis said dryly, raising a brow. At the mention of the general, Tatiana smiled, though there was still worry written all over her face. "Oh, General Pitchiner, how lovely to see you. Come in, won't you?" Kozmotis almost laughed at Aster's expression when the small woman invited him in. "I would love to, but I have my daughter and a friend with me. Is it alright if they come in as well?" "Of course, of course! Bring them up and come on in." He left the married couple as they started up an argument, most likely about the sudden stay.

"Jack, it's alright! The house is safe!" He called. Both Jack and Seraphina poked their heads out the window, getting an amused chuckle from the general. "Come on, you two." With a little bit more coaxing, Kozmotis had the two out of the car and up the steps. Aster was no longer at the door, but sulking inside while Tatiana waited outside. Both he and Jack smiled when Seraphina squealed happily and ran toward Tatiana. It was cute how much his daughter looked up to the dentist. Tatiana stooped down a little bit to catch the young girl in a hug, giggling and laughing softly as Tatiana lead Seraphina into the building with Jack and Kozmotis following not too far behind.

The cottage was as small on the inside as it was on the outside, but it was comfortable. It was very cozy with three extra people there, now. Aster looked up from putting his rifle away, sending a glare at Kozmotis. The colonel had never liked him. "We only have one guest room, so you'll all be sharin'." He said gruffly. Aster, like Kozmotis, was a tall man who stood at about the same height as Kozmotis, give or take an inch or two. But he had more bulk. He had a heavier build than his superior officer. He had stunning green eyes and a thick Australian accent, and possibly the only unattractive things about him were his slightly larger than normal front teeth and his attitude. "That's fine." Kozmotis replied coolly, expression set in a neutral mask. Yet again, there was a less than friendly stare off between the two which was broken up again by dear Tatiana.

"Aster, dear, why don't you come help me whip something up for dinner?" Tatiana placed one of her small hands on Aster's arm, looking up at him with a mix of concern and weariness. Kozmotis caught the look on her face and both he and Aster frowned. This chaos was taking a toll on all of them already. "Alright. I'll help." Aster quickly relented and let his wife pull him off toward the little kitchen. Tatiana paused and glanced over her shoulder. "The guest room is down the hall back there on the left, right across from ours. The bathroom is at the very end of the hall. You three go and get settled while we get dinner ready." She said kindly before resuming the short walk with Aster.

Kozmotis ushered his daughter off to the spare room with Jack just behind him. "I'm going to go out to the car and get a few things, alright. I'll be back in a minute or two." He smiled a little before he turned and went back out to get the emergency bag and a few extra blankets he always carried with him in the car. He figured that Seraphina would have the bed, so the extra blankets would be necessary. Kozmotis sighed and looked up at the sky. It was a deep red, fading to purple and orange and pink with the setting sun. It was nice to just take a minute to unwind after all the horrors today. But this was only the beginning. There were so many more to come… It seemed like forever ago that he had come home to spend time with his daughter.

**Yay for the pretend line!**

_Hey you guys! This is probably one of the more rushed chapters. We met like five characters in one go. I plan on adding the other two Guardians and all of the little children. I think I'll give this three or four more chapters, but keep in mind that they'll be around this length, so that should make up for how short this is. I started writing this monster a year ago after playing Choice of Zombies. Now I'm actually getting on the stick. With this chapter at least. Also, I may pair up Kozmotis and Jack if you like. It will give me some opportunities to slip in some fluff from Sera toward Jack. Let me know. I also may or may not add in a baby for Tooth and Bunny later. If you want, I can change the rating later or give you a separate 'deleted scene' or whatever. Review and criticism are nice, flames are not. Thank you all for reading!_

_-CTM_


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